In terms of writing development, we know that all children benefit from immersion in a listening and storytelling culture where their voices are valued and heard (McKay, 2021). There is the general understanding that if you can’t say it, you can’t write it. For children to become good writers, they simultaneously need to have strong oral language and vocabulary skills (see section on oral language) and these are skills that should be fostered very early at home and at school. Children should be seen as “curious and competent communicators who have stories to tell” and it should be recognized that children do want to write when we invite them to tell their stories (McKay, 2021).

When students start to write, explicit and sequenced instruction can help them understand the writing process. Writing can be taught like any other basic skill with sentences being the building block that propels students from writing the way they speak to using the structures of written language. We can explicitly teach what a sentence is and give tools so students can share a complete thought in different ways, while providing critical feedback that helps them know next steps. Teaching sentence writing can help children develop the ability to organize ideas and sequence information into a logical progression and it lays the groundwork for students’ ability to revise and edit when they tackle longer forms of writing.

At the same time, students need extensive opportunities to write on topics they care about: motivation is heightened when a topic is important to them.

Writing Assessment:

Writing Sample Activities:

  • Oral rehearsal (storytelling) to develop a sense of storytelling language.
  • Story Workshop in preschool and primary; developing ideas and stories through choices of art materials.
  • Explicit teaching of what a sentence is using an anchor chart; sentence writing activities can start off orally. E.g., resources include “The Writing Revolution” book, Project Read: Framing Your Thoughts (see below).
  • Teaching the four sentence types – statement, command, question and exclamation.
  • Activities to identify the sentence type.
  • Using picture sets to illicit questions or descriptive sentences.
  • Sentence Matching and Sentence Scramble activities.
  • Sentence Combining activities.
  • Providing sentence starters or using word cards.
  • Picture Word Inductive Model strategy – teaches essential nouns, verbs, details, grammatical structures, and vocabulary words associated with a topic using a single visual.
  • 6 + 1 Writing Traits Model of Instruction
  • Writer’s Workshop
  • Teaching editing and peer review skills
  • Read, Write, Think: Interactive Printing Press for students to create newspapers, brochures and flyers.  There is a planning sheet that can be printed .

Writing Resources:

  • MPSD Joyful Literacy Initiative: Writing Resources Folder (MPSD access only)
  • ONlit collection of thinkSRSD-inspired POWeR (Plan, Organize, Write, Revise) cycles designed specifically for Grade 3 writers. Each cycle supports students in becoming strategic writers through explicit instruction in key strategies: Gr. 3 thinkSRSD-inspired POWeR Cycles
  • We Are Teachers: Anchor Charts 101: Why and How to Use Them
  • We Are Teachers Staff: 25 Awesome Anchor charts for teaching writing
  • Scholastic: Simple Sentence Anchor Chart
  • Making Sentences: A Hands-On Approach to Teaching Reading and Writing by Lisa Peterson
  • The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler.
  • Project Read: Framing Your Thoughts (writing program that teaches writing sequentially starting off with a barebone sentence that has a subject and predicate)
  • Melanie Meehan from Two Writing Teachers blog: Picture Word Inductive Model
  • Ruth Culham: 6 + 1 Writing Traits Resources
  • Read Write Think: Peer Review skills
  • North Vancouver School District (SD 44): Writing 44: A Core Writing Framework
  • Story Workshop: New Possibilities for Young Writers by Susan Harris MacKay
  • What’s Next for this Beginning Writer? Mini-lessons that take writing from scribbles to script by Janine Reid and Betty Schultze with Ulla Petersen
  • Lessons that Change Writers by Nancie Atwell is an excellent resource as it provides mini lessons to improve student writing. This includes poetry, memoirs, essays, etc. Her ideas are highly engaging.
  • Pulling Together by Leyton Schnellert et al. outlines how teachers can collaborate to create lesson sequences that emphasize inquiry, effective assessment, and thinking. Practical examples are included.
  • Write Like This by Kelly Gallagher shows how teachers can use mentor texts as scaffolds for students to become authentic writers. The strategies are highly engaging and this framework is very useful.

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